76 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



8. PHOENIX L. Sp. PI. 1188. 1753. 

 1. Phoenix dactylifera L. Sp. PI. 1188. 1753. 



Widely cultivated in Mexico and in some places, as in Baja California, grow- 

 ing without cultivation, perhaps on the sites of abandoned ranches. Native of 

 the Old World. 



Trunk often 15 meters high or taller ; leaves large, pinnate ; fruit borne in 

 large panicles. Commonly known as " datil ; " the name " zoyacapulln " is 

 said to be applied also. 



One of the best-known palms, grown for its fruit in most tropical regions. 

 The date palm was introduced into Mexico at an early period and is now 

 cultivated in many localities, chiefly in the more arid regions. Dates were 

 exported from Baja California in the early part of the nineteenth century, but 

 the amount now produced in Mexico is not very large. They could doubtless 

 be grown on a large scale in Sonora and Sinaloa, for the trees thrive In that 

 part of Mexico. 



9. GEONOMA Willd. Mem. Acad. Sci. Berlin 1804: 37. 1807. 



Trunk very short, covered by the sheaths of the petioles 1. G. mexicana. 



Trunk 4 to 8 meters high, naked 2. G. magnifica. 



1. Geonoma mexicana Liebm. ; Mart. Hist. Nat. Palm. 3: 316. 1836-50. 

 Oaxaca, at about 900 meters; material from Veracruz perhaps belongs 



here. 



Trunk very short ; leaves interrupted-pinnatifld, bifid at the apex, the 

 pinnae subopposite, broadly lanceolate, long-acuminate ; spadix pubescent, with 

 cernuous branches; fruit oblique-ellipsoid. 



2. Geonoma magnifica Lind. & Wendl. Linnaea 28: 335. 1856. 



Described from material collected between San Carlos and Macuspana, Ta- 

 basco. 



Trunk 4 to 8 meters high and 5 to 6 cm. thick, annulate; leaves pinnatisect. 

 the blade 2.5 meters long, 70 to 80 cm. wide, with 7 or 8 pairs of pinnae, 

 these broadly lanceolate, long-acuminate. " Pujai." 



Hemsley reports ^ a third species from Oaxaca as Geonoma galeottiana 

 Wendl., but this name is unpublished. 



10. CALYPTROGYNE Wendl. Bot. Zeit. 17: 72. 1859. 

 1. Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana ^ (Lind. & Wendl.) Wendl. Bot. Zeit. 17: 72. 

 1859. 

 Geonoma gJiiesbreghtiana Lind. & Wendl. Linnaea 28: 343. 1856. 

 Chiapas. 



'Biol. Centr. Anier. Bot. 3: 408. 1885. 



'August Ghiesbreght was born in Brussels in 1810. In 1836 he and Linden 

 were appointed by Leopold I to explore Brazil. In 1837, together with Linden 

 and Funck, he started for Mexico and reached Veracruz in January, 1838. 

 He accompanied Galcotti in his ascent of Orizaba, and also collected else- 

 where. He went to Europe in 1839. but returned to Mexico in the same year, 

 and with Linden visited Tabasco. In March, 1840, he accompanied his collec- 

 tions to Europe, but returned soon after, and botanized in various states, as- 

 cending the volcanoes of Colima, .Torullo, and Zempoaltepec. He took up his 

 residence in Tabasco, and explored that State as well as Chiapas. In 1857 he 

 again accompanied his collections to Europe, to return once more, however, 

 and establish himself in the city of Chiapas. His collections are found in 

 many of the herbaria of Europe and America. 



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